Milk-aerator



(No Model.)

I'. C. STEPHBNSON.

MILK AERATOR. r No. 553,437. Patented Jan. 21,1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANKLIN C. STEPIIENSON, OF GREEN MEADOXVS, CALIFORNIA.

MILK-AERATO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 553,437, dated January21, 1896. Application led November 19, 1894. Serial No. 529,245. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Beit known that I, FRANKLIN C. STEPHEN- SON, a citizen of the UnitedStates,` residing at Green Meadows, in the county of Los Angeles andState of California, have invented a new and useful Milk-Aerator, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices designed to aerate and extract theanimal heat from milk to place it in proper condition for market or forkeeping.

The object of my invention is to provide a cheap, simple and eflicientdevice of this class which may be manufactured by any ordinary tinsmith,and will be adapted for use in localities where facilities for ltheaeration of milk are ordinarily unattainable.

It is highly essential to the successful operation of a milk-aeratorthat the milk be uniformly and evenly cooled and exposed to the air, sothat every part of the milk will be aerated and the animal heatextracted therefrom. It is necessary in order to accomplish this thatthe channel in which the milk flows be fiat-bottomed, so that the milkiowing therealong will be of uniform depth. It is also essential thatthe pitch of the channel be sufficient to cause the milk to flow quiterapidly along the channel in order that the milk may be agitated andevery part brought to the surface and exposed to the action of the air.

Heretofore it has been `proposed to make an aerator having a roundedorslightly-conical top and to secure upon this top a sheetmetal helix insuch a manner as to form a spiral channel. In this form the pitch of thechannel is limited by the taper of the top, and as the pitch of thechannel is increased the taper of the top is increased, so that if achannel of suflicient grade to carry the milk rapidly therealong isprovided the bottom of the channel will be at a considerable angle withthe horizon, so that the depth of milk at the lower or outer side ofsuch channel will be much greater than at the inner side of the channel,which is objectionable, as hereinbefore set forth. It has also beenproposed to secure a helix spirally around a receptacle having verticalside walls, such helix projecting outward from the walls of thereceptacle at an acute angle therewith. In addition to the objectionablefeature of the milk being of unequal depth in the channel, thisconstruction has the objection of being extremely difficult to cleanse,and this feature alone would'preclude its successful introduction forthe aeration of milk.

My invention relates to the means whereby I am enabled to form anaerator having a spiral channel, the bottom of which is hori- Zontallyarranged and the sides of which are vertically arranged, and whereby Iam enabled to vary the pitch or inclination of the channel and still toalways have the bottom of the channel horizontal, so that the milk willalways flow through the channel in a stream of uniform depth, and willbe perfectly cooled and aerated.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

Figure l is a perspective elevation of my improved milk-aerator inoperation. Fig. 2 is a vertical mid-section of the same, Fig. 3 is abottom view of the milk-reservoir, which is arranged to t upon theupwardly-proj ecting neck of the water-chamber. Fig. 4. is an enl. rgeddetail of one form of the side wall of the channel. Fig. 5 is a likeview of another form of side wall.

My improved milk-aerator comprises a water-chamber A, having its top Bprovided with a spiral channel C, and, as shown in the drawings, Iarrange this channel leading from near the center of the top to thecircumference. The water-chamber is preferably circular, as shown, andis also provided with the centrally-arranged upwardly-projectingtapering neck C', which is provided with a series of annular rings carranged to impede the passage of the milk downward along the neck.

A milk-reservoir D, which is provided with a downwardlyeproj ectingflange (I, is arranged to iit upon the top of the neck C'. Thismilkreservoir is also provided with a dasher-tube E, which is secured tothe bottom of the milkreservoir, and passes upward through suchreservoir to allow the dasher-handle F to extend above the reservoir soit can be actuated to cause the dasher F to agitate and thoroughly mixthe water within the chamber' when necessary.

In making my improved aerator I take a piece of tin or other suitablematerial of a d1- ameter equal to the diameter of the waterchamber to beformed and cut it into a spiral. The center of the spiral is pulledupward to separate the various convolutions from each other, and avertical strip G is soldered to the edges of the convolutions, as shownin Figs. l and 2. This strip, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, is sufficientlywide to project upward above the outer edge of each of the convolutionsand is bent downward and doubled upon itself to form the outer wall Grof the channel. As shown in Fig. 4,'th`e upper edge of this wall isstrengthened by a wire g, while in Fig. 5 the strip G is arranged 'toform only the inner wall of the channel, and a separate strip G, doubledupon itself, is soldered upon the outer edges of the convolutions toform the outer wall of the channel. It will thus be seen that themilk-channel is formed by two helixes of sheet metal, one of which isarranged with its greatest width horizontal, and the other of which isarranged with its greatest width vertical and the two helixes aresecured together from end to end with thel upper edge of the verticalhelix projecting above the plane of the horizontal helix, thus forming anat-bottomed spiral channel along which the milk flows and is uniformlyand evenly cooled and exposed to the air. A suitable spout I is arrangedto conduct the milk from the end of the channel into a receptacle J.

I is a stopper adapted to close the opening from the channel into thespout.

In practice the water-chamber A is filled with water either by means ofa hose or by pouring water into the neck C. The entire chamber,including the neck, is iilled with Water, and the milk-reservoir D isplaced in position upon the neck and is iilled with milk, which runs outthrough the perforations dl, which are arranged to discharge the milkdownward upon the neck, along which the milk iiows, the rings cretarding its progress and causing it to be thoroughly exposed to theair during its passage downward into the channel. Vhen it reaches thechannel it flows gently downward therealong, the heat being graduallyabsorbed by the water in the water-chamber, and the milk is dischargedfrom the spout I thoroughly cooled and aerated.

By reason of providing the milk-impeding rings upon the tapering neckthe milk is delivered upon the neck from the perforations in themilk-reservoir, and iiowing downward along the neck is impeded by therings and is caused to spread evenly over the entire surface of the neckand becomes practically aerated before it reaches the spiral channel C,and by reason of this channel being fiatbottomed the milk in flowingdownward therealong is of no great depth at any point, and by the timeit reaches the lower end of the channel it is in the most favorablecondition possible for preservation.

Vhere water under pressure is convenient, a constant flow of waterthrough the ehamber may be provided for by a proper arrangement ofpipes; but I have not illustrated this, for the reason that it forms nopart of my invention and will be readily understood by those versed inthe art.

Where it is inconvenient to have a supply of running water, the dasher Fis actuated whenever the` water becomes so warm near the top of thechamber as to not properly cool the milk, and by means of this dasherthe cold water near the bottom of the chamber is thoroughly mixed withthe warm water at the top, and the milk is rapidly cooled.

K is a discharge-spout through which thc water in the chamber isdischarged when it becomes too warm.

Now, having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

l. A milk aerator having its cooling chamber provided with a top formedof two sheet metal helixes, one helix having its convolutions invert-ical planes and the other helix having its convolutions inhorizontal planes, the two helixes being secured together from end toend with the upper edge of each convolution of the vertical helixprojecting above the plane of the corresponding convolution of thehorizontal helix to form thereby an inclined flat bottomed spiralchannel.

2. A milk aerator having its cooling chamber provided with a top formedof two sheet metal helixes, one helix having its convolutions inVertical planes and the other helix having its convolutions inhorizontal planes, the two helixes being secured together from end toend with the upper edge of each convolution of the vertical helixprojecting above the plane vof the corresponding` convolution of thehorizontal helix to form thereby an inclined iiat bottomed spiralchannel; the centrally arranged tapering neck provided with the annularmilk impeding rings; and the milk reservoir arranged to fit upon the topof such neck and provided with the perforations arranged to dischargethe milk against the tapering neck.

3. A milk aerator having a convolute spiral channel formed by securingtogether two helixes, one helix having its convolutions arranged invertical planes, and the other helix having its convolutions arranged inhorizontal planes, the inner edge of each convolution of the horizontalhelix being secured to the bottom of the corresponding inner convolutionof the vertical helix, and its outer edge being secured to the innerface of the corresponding outer convolution of the vertical helixintermediate the top and bottom edges of such convolution.

F. C. STEPHENSON. lVitnesses:

ALFRED I. TowNsE'Nn, WINIFRED L. DAvIs.

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